


As Cold As Stone

by Ahlyae



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Ba Sing Se, Canon Compliant, Dai Li in general being scary, Earth Kingdom, Gen, How doesn’t know what he’s doing there, Intimidation, Jade eyed stone glares are scary, One Shot, People have work to get back to, Post-100 Year War (Avatar TV), Rants, Short One Shot, The Gaang being not that smart, Xuan is Not Amused
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-16
Updated: 2020-01-16
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:27:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22280662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ahlyae/pseuds/Ahlyae
Summary: Commander Xuan Daiyu of the Dai Li is in his office dealing with a crisis and going through paperwork when a subordinate interrupts him. Apparently, the Avatar is in Ba Sing Se and wants to speak to him. The Gaang want answers, Xuan is done with them, and How wonders what he’s doing there.
Relationships: The Gaang (Avatar) & Original Character(s)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 14





	As Cold As Stone

Commander Xuan Daiyu was sitting behind the desk in his office. The position of Commander was a heavy burden, one had to deal with the responsibility of leading the organization, deciding on internal policies and protocols, going to meetings, both Dai Li related and governmental, the seas of paperwork that went through the Dai Li, as well as the responsibility of keeping order in the city. It wasn’t an easy job, he knew that when he accepted the promotion to Officer and he had experienced it in his years of being Commander. Though, it never had been as stressful as the last couple months. Paperwork was piling up on his desk, many of the documents containing information he most likely did not want to hear. He reached out to one stack and took a handful of scrolls. _ Surveillance Branch_, he noticed, as he looked at the ribbon under the Dai Li seal.

Breaking the seal, he rolled open the scroll and lay it onto the desk, his fingers tracing the paper as he was reading the words. The report came from Inspector Huang, in charge of the Lower Ring’s Surveillance Branch, and stated that the situation had improved over the months but there was still a lot of criminality, petty, serious, and organized. He also stated that his subordinates were working hard to crack down on the crisis. 

The mere presence of the Dai Li was enough for many opportunists to refrain from criminality, for those who still dared to, the effectiveness of the Dai Li would _always _catch up to them. Despite the fact that the Lower Ring was still in the criminality crisis, Xuan was happy with the progress they were making. 

Having picked up another scroll, he was about to open it when someone knocked on the door of his office. 

“Come in.” He simply said. The door slid open to reveal one of his many subordinates, the man bowed respectfully before speaking to his Commander.

“Sir, the Avatar wants to see you.”

“Why?”

“Well, he wants to speak to the person in charge of the Dai Li, Sir. He did not state why.”

“Oh, for love of Kyoshi…” The Commander muttered under his breath, “where is the Avatar?” He continued.

“Palace, Sir, I was asked to summon you.” 

Xuan stood up from his desk and made his way over to his subordinate, “Well, lead the way.”

The agent bowed and the two of them started off towards the Palace. 

Unlike the old headquarters, Lake Laogai, the new one was located in the Upper Ring. After the discovery of the base, it was too risky to ever go back. An old, forgotten, functionless part of the Crystal Catacombs was transformed into the new headquarters. 

Because the Crystal Catacombs base was under the Upper Ring and close to the Palace, they didn’t have to walk far to reach the Dai Li rail station and entrance to the Palace. The Dai Li had countless secrets in the city, the tunnels and railroads connecting the underground part of the city were one of them. The railroad leads from the Palace to Lake Laogai and remained in use. Only, the last stop wasn’t the drowned headquarters but an office in the Southeastern part of the Lower Ring. A few of his subordinates were at the train station, some who had noticed him bowed briefly before continuing their separate ways. 

Walking up the stairs, the agent leading him opened a secret door and together they stepped inside one of the many Palace wings. This one claimed and used by the Dai Li, served as a second, unofficial headquarters. They walked through the beautifully decorated corridors and halls in the palace, various shades of green contrasting with their golden Earth Kingdom coins and decorative curls, the hallways lit by the familiar green glowing crystals. Xuan kept up a steadfast tempo, paying no attention to the subordinates relaxing or working around him, only nodding back politely when one of them bowed. He had other things on his mind, like _why in the name of Kyoshi did the avatar want to see him_. He supposed he would get the answer soon, the Dai Li Wing was close to the main part of the Palace, meaning it was only a matter of time before he would come face to face with the young boy and his teenage companions. 

Xuan didn’t say anything when he noticed his subordinate was leading him to the throne room. _ Of course, they would just barge in, they have no respect for our rules and customs. _ As he made his way through the giant decorated hallway, he looked up at the metal doors. _ Well, at least this time they bothered to go through them like normal human beings. _ The doors slowly started opening as he and his subordinate approached, various Royal Guards were needed to open them and for just a moment, he felt pity for the poor men tasked with the job. Many people passed through this hall every day. Xuan could see the four figures, two dressed in light blue, one in orange, and one in green, sitting on pillows next to a small table. A bit further back, he could see _ King _ Kuei sitting on the Badgermole Throne. For some odd reason, one of the Generals was also there. The subordinate had left his side when he walked through the doors. As he approached, ever silent and elegant as any Dai Li, he noticed that the man was in fact General How, one of the members of the Council of Five. Why _his _presence was needed was a mystery to the Dai Li Commander. He walked straight past the table, paying no attention to the kids, and stopped in front of the Throne.

“Your Majesty.” He simply said as he kneeled before his ruler, bowing to him in the style of the Dai Li. Without looking at His Majesty, he rose to his feet and gave the General a brief bow, the General returned the bow respectfully. 

Normally, you’d have to kowtow before His Majesty, the Earth King, but the Dai Li were the exception. The Dai Li _ don’t _ kowtow and had their own style of bowing. They also didn’t follow most bowing rules and customs, whereas others had to bow respectfully, the Dai Li bowed briefly, or not at all. Those others were expected to bow respectfully to the Dai Li though, even if the Dai Li didn’t bow back. 

Xuan turned around to face the Avatar, the young boy sat in between his Water Tribe girlfriend and her brother. The blind earthbender, Lady Beifong, was sitting next to the Water Tribe boy, Sokka. The Dai Li Commander did not even consider the idea of bowing to them and sat down on the pillow on the opposite side of the table. _ Why bother with formalities if the Avatar and his friends don’t care for anything of the sort? _

He saw the Earth King step off his throne, stepping closer to the table, but keeping a respectable distance. “As you requested, I have summoned the Head of the Dai Li for you. Avatar Aang, this is Commander Daiyu, he’s in charge of the Dai Li.”

Xuan heard Sokka whispering while the Earth King was in the process of talking. _ You really don’t have manners, do you? Lucky your I’m-the-Avatar’s-friend privileges keep you from being executed for such disrespect. _ “Isn’t he the same guy we got arrested?” _ Yes, I am. It’s not like Daiyu is a common last name. _

“Yeah, it’s the same guy.” The blind earthbender responded. 

“How do you…” 

“I can see with earthbending remember.” The girl said, nonchalantly, like it’s the most normal thing ever.

_ For her it is, _ Xuan commented, _ the best trained Dai Li agents could only vaguely sense someone or something with vibrations, she can see everything through them. _ Xuan had to compliment her, it’s amazing that she managed to master this ability to this extent, _ making her the only member of the Avatar’s team that deserves any compliments _ . That said, it was a pain when his subordinates had to fight her, as she saw everything they anticipated. _ Though she doesn’t see everything, _ he realized, _ she hadn’t seen the Dai Li agents stuck to the ceiling, she hadn’t seen the Dai Li agent that grabbed her during the party, and she had never noticed the Dai Li agents following them, even at this very moment. _

“I’m happy that you could help us, _ Your Earthliness_, ” Aang said. It took Xuan’s years of Dai Li training to avoid cringing at the title. _ For the love of Kyoshi, Avatar, you really don’t care, do you? _

“I’m happy to assist you, Avatar Aang.” _ Of course, you would, you are an incompetent King who easily gets walked over. First it was the Dai Li, now it will be the Avatar. _

The Avatar had raised from his seat to bow, Air Nomad style, before sitting back down again, facing him. “So, Commander Daiyu-”

Xuan cut him off, “What do you want?” His voice was as cold as stone, he raised his gaze and let his hard jade eyes pierce through the young teen, who gulped and shivered slightly in response.

He let his gaze wander to the other kids at the table, Katara looked rightfully scared, Sokka tried to act tougher than he was, and Toph couldn’t see the terrifyingly blank and hard expression of the Dai Li Commander. 

The Avatar took a deep breath before he spoke again, to collect himself, “I saw that the Dai Li are back,” Xuan could not believe his ears. _Did they literally go the Earth King, summon me all the way over here, just to ask what the Dai Li are doing out of prison? Oh, Kyoshi… _“I would like to know why? The war is over, the King makes his own decisions, why are the Dai Li back?” The Avatar spoke, trying to speak with authority and formality, keyword being _trying_, Xuan noted. He also noticed the distinct disgust and dislike carried in his words, it was unnoticeable to the King, _who_ _was blind to many things_, to How, and to the Avatar’s friends, although the latter most likely agreed with him. Having spent years in Re-education, analyzing and destroying minds, he became quite perceptive of others.

“Avatar,” Xuan said, choosing his words carefully, “could you not have asked someone else, instead of having me summoned here?” His words carried the slightest bit of irritation, noticeable to everyone in the room. Xuan _was _irritated and it took him quite some willpower not to let it be too noticeable. He continued, “I’m sure you understand that I’m busy.” Still looking at the Avatar, he saw him slowly cringe from fear but that wasn’t going to be enough to stop Xuan’s hard stare. 

Dai Li agents were known for their intimidation skills, Xuan was no exception. In training, he had easily adopted the cold, cruel, and emotionless character of a Dai Li agent, his already piercing hard jade eyes had only become scarier. 

Katara, however, had mustered the courage to speak. “Busy? Busy with what?!” She practically yelled at him, “You have no other purpose!” _ Oh, Kyoshi help me. _

“Miss Katara,” Xuan continued, keeping much of his irritation invisible, “has it occurred to you that this city is in a crisis? The crime rate is higher than it has been in decades and people all over the city are suffering the consequences.”

“What do you care!” Katara yelled back, “The Dai Li doesn’t care for this city, the only reason they, _ you_, are here is because you want power. It’s the same reason you betrayed your country!”

“I don’t care?” Xuan snapped, his rock gloved hands now firmly placed on the table. He himself could feel the ground shake slightly because of his sudden burst of emotion. The group of kids had crawled backward as the Dai Li Commander broke his cold demeanor. 

Xuan simply didn’t care, he instead continued, his voice calmer, “if it wasn’t for the fact that the Home Guard is moronically incompetent, the Dai Li would never have been released in the first place, because guess what, we did the work that the Home Guard was supposed to do but what else is new, it’s not like the Dai Li was literally created because of the incompetence of peacekeepers 400 years ago.” He noticed the kids’ confusion, _ of course, they wouldn’t know about Earth Kingdom history, let alone the history of Ba Sing Se or the Dai Li_.

“Long Feng was one of the few people who actually knew what he was doing, the King was just a small kid,” _ and still is, “ _and many of the ministers couldn’t be bothered, well let’s say that changed quickly once the Dai Li showed up,” Xuan remembered that time, he had finished training soon after Long Feng’s takeover. Those times were filled with arrests of anyone who opposed or broke the no-war policy. The first many years were busy ones for the Re-Education branch. 

He took a moment to glance to His Majesty, “and with all due respect, Your Majesty, it’s not like you even bothered learning or doing anything, you were far too occupied with having fun. I don’t think having you _ actually _ run the country would have been a great idea, we would have died to peasant rebellions, noble rebellions, riots, assassination attempts and finally the Siege of Ba Sing Se.” He said, his voice remained calm and terrifyingly cold, making his mocking comments more terrifying than anything else.

Any Dai Li agent, especially the ones who converted, _ brainwashers_, could have heard past the horrifying tone of their superior and would have noticed that he was growing more frustrated. 

The Commander did not care for the surprised look on the Earth King’s face, or the half confused half-scared faces of the Avatar and his friends, or General How’s look of _ what-in-the-world-am-I-doing-here_.

“And then the Comet, oh that one gave us so many headaches and long nights discussing plans, we all knew we were dead anyway… then you barged in,” he directed his attention back to the Avatar, staring at the young boy. Xuan’s gaze could go right through you, like he was judging your soul and every little piece of your body, terrifying you to your core, “acting like you owned the place. Causing disorder, infiltrating the Palace, breaking city rules, breaking court rules, breaking traditions we’ve had in place for centuries, getting the guy who effectively runs the place locked up. That was very appreciated, really, I enjoyed wasting my resources on you and reading the many useless reports.” The Avatar and his friends looked at him, their faces puzzled, _ didn’t the Grand Secretariat literally tell you that you would be watched constantly. Seriously… _ Before he went down that train of thought, he turned his attention back to the matters at hand, _ Azula and the coup. _

“And then I found out Azula was in the city. After years of worry, finally, a plan fell into place. A plan that would save the city.” He said, his voice stayed calm, his eyes traveling from kid to kid. A faint smile could be seen on his face.

“But I’m the Avatar, there was no need to-” Aang interrupted, but Xuan quickly cut him off. 

“With all due respect, Avatar Aang, but you were a 12-year-old kid who was barely proficient in waterbending and was still learning earthbending, do you seriously expect me to lay the fate of millions of people in your hands just because you happen to be the Avatar?” Aang was visibly tensed. The commander did not have to raise his voice to sound intimidating, his calm and cold tone was more than enough, his harsh and unyielding jade eyes looking like something from a nightmare. Aang wondered for the briefest moment if the Dai Li Commander ever had kind eyes and if the man was still capable of being human, with a larger range of emotions than just coldness and irritation. He was unsure of it.

Xuan continued his rant, not paying any attention to the reactions of the teens in front of him, “I was not going to risk having _ my _ city being burned down, killing millions of people, just because some kid said he would end the war. The same kid who trashed one of our military bases, and at no point swore loyalty to His Majesty” He said, “The only thing we could do was give Ba Sing Se to the Fire Nation.”

“I don’t see how giving the city to the Fire Nation would protect it,” Aang said, his voice soft and quiet.

“Of course you wouldn’t,” he snapped back, his tone stayed cold and harsh, “none of you are known for your exemplary strategy skills. As we have seen during that failure of an invasion plan.” He saw the group of teenagers wince as he mentioned the failed plan. Many had died that day, many had lost their lives in prison. Xuan didn’t care for any of it. “Honestly, how did you not realize earlier that Azula knew?” Xuan took a moment of silence to eye the children sitting before him, that’s all they were, children, very well known children with a lot of influence, but still children. “I’m quite sure at that point you already figured out the Dai Li had files on everything. Katara was captured while holding a scroll containing all the plans, the Dai Li knew what information the plans contained, the Dai Li sided with Azula, and yet you never connected the dots? Really?” Xuan looked at the faces of the kids, staring at their eyes, a sudden realization hit him. _ They really are blind, aren’t they? How did this group of kids even defeat the Fire Lord... _

“By giving the city to the Fire Nation, by making them believe we were on their side and that it was unnecessary to burn the city down, we saved it.” Xuan said, “Call me a traitor all you want, call me evil for conspiring against my monarch and suppressing the war and terrorizing people, I don’t care.” In a smooth motion he stood up, now towering over the teens, his shadow fell slightly onto the kids, who tried to avoid it, like it was death itself, “Don’t tell me I don’t care for this city and don’t tell me the Dai Li is useless. If you think so, you can fix the situation in the city yourselves and stop bothering me. Better yet, throw me right back in prison, because that's where you believe I belong, is it not?” 

The teens slid further into their seats from fear. Xuan towered over them, staring at them with his harsh jade eyes, his eyes once again going from kid to kid, they didn’t say anything. Even Toph, the outspoken rebellious noble daughter, was silent. Their eyes wide, sparkling with fear, their shivering bodies, trembling because of his presence, their silence, signaling he shook them to their core. The fact that these kids were horrified did him nothing. He was used to people stepping out of his way, afraid to upset a member of the Dai Li. He saw how people would take any excuse to escape his eerie presence, how mothers kept their children close, wanting to protect them from the _ Bringers of Death_, he knew the insulting things people said about the Dai Li, he knew people hated them, _ him_, and he had grown disinterested in their petty views a very long time ago. 

Everyone turned their heads when they heard the door opening. Through the doors, a Dai Li agent stepped into the throne room, walking up to the Throne and bowed, “May I, Your Majesty ?”

“Yes.”

The Dai Li agent rose and turned to his Commander and bowed once again, “Commander Daiyu, Sir, Director Qin wants to see you. He said it was urgent, Sir.”

“Alright,” he mumbled as he got up and kneeled before his ruler, “Your Majesty, may I have permission to leave your presence, I have matters to take care of.” He said in the same cold tone as his subordinate.

The King was snapped out of his absent-minded state and looked at the Head of the Dai Li for a couple long seconds before replying, “Oh, yes, of course, Commander Daiyu, you have important things to take care of. You’re dismissed.”

The Commander rose to his feet and turned to face General How, bowing slightly, “While we’re here, I have to tell you the meeting tomorrow can’t go through, something got in the way. I hope we can reschedule?”

General How was tempted to ask what had gotten in the way of a planned meeting and then decided not to. The Commander consciously avoided the topic and How knew that meant one thing, _ don’t ask, classified, not meant for your ears, definitely not meant for being uttered in front of foreigners. _He bowed and said, “That’s rather unfortunate, what day do you suggest? I have time all week.”

“End of the week, before the weekend?” He asked.

“Sounds good, see you then, Commander.” How said, bowing once again, the Head of the Dai Li returned the bow before turning around and walking off with the Dai Li agent tasked to get him.

It wasn’t the first time How had felt the entire room lighten in mood as soon as the Dai Li Commander walked out. 

**Author's Note:**

> -And that's it.
> 
> First off, I want to thank MrAFirebender for beta-ing this one-shot. He's a friend, fellow fanfic writer, and most importantly, a Dai Li fan. I suggest reading his crack AU called "Records of the 53rd Earth Queen, Toph Beifong" where Toph, surprise surprise, becomes Earth Queen and a lot of fun things happen. It's not exactly that crack, just a whacky idea that works surprisingly well. There is a lot of political things involved, as well as humor, of course, and whiskey. 
> 
> Going back to the story, as you've probably noticed by now, Xuan is the guy in charge of the Dai Li. There is a lot more story to tell about him and his 'adventures' and I do plan on writing more on him. I also plan on more Xuan + The Gaang stories/one-shots. But for now, it's all work in progress. 
> 
> Thank you for reading and i hope you enjoyed it, have a good day/night and be kind towards yourself!  
  



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